


Nosebleed

by AlyssAlenko



Series: A little bit of Shenko Paradise [16]
Category: Mass Effect
Genre: Biotics, Bittersweet, Domestic, F/M, Feelings, Fluff, Forgiveness, Friendship, Friendship/Love, Guilt, Hesitation, Hope, Love, New love, Past Relationship(s), Pride, Reave, Rebuilding Relationship, Rekindling a flame, Romantic Fluff, Romantic Soulmates, Shenko - Freeform, Soulmates, True Love, Trust, Warm and Fuzzy Feelings, Worry, horizon - Freeform, new powers, surprise
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-03
Updated: 2017-05-03
Packaged: 2018-10-27 06:32:38
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,375
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10803711
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlyssAlenko/pseuds/AlyssAlenko
Summary: Kaidan is finally back on the Normandy after the beating he took on Mars, and Shepard decides a little biotic sparring would do them both some good, considering what they're up against and his biotics have also been offline for a little while and he might be rusty. Also touches on the events of Horizon while the two of them try to rebuild their fractured relationship, because it's obvious the way they feel about each other...





	Nosebleed

“Kaidan...you're _still_ holding back.”

Of course he was. Her hands were on her hips as she watched him, lips open slightly as she huffed quietly—they’d been at it for hours, Alyss trying to get him to stop hesitating. He didn't know how she’d talked him into sparring with her...she was the one person he never wanted to hurt with his biotics. Besides, he’d barely been discharged from the hospital after the beating he took on Mars, finally back on the Normandy—with her—where he belonged...it was different on the battlefield; when they were fighting he pulled out all the stops to keep her safe. He still cared...still loved her.

“I don’t want to hurt you.” He admitted.

Her gaze softened.

“I appreciate the thought, but I'll be fine. You had to keep your biotics offline for a while there, and the practice will do us both some good.”

He nodded slowly. The touch of her hand on his arm sent his heart fluttering in his chest, his biotics humming in tandem with hers like they always did, the time lapse irrelevant to his heart, but not his head. He'd missed that. Alyss smiled at him, wishing he would let himself go and trust her again; she hated the distance that had built up between them—understood it, but hated it all the same. What she wouldn't give to be back in Hawaii with him.

Kaidan glowed blue, his barrier settling into place as she hit him with a throw, catching him slightly off guard, but not enough to knock him off his feet. Reality warped under her. The self-satisfied grin on his face made her smile, it had been too long since they'd practiced together, and it was familiar and nostalgic, a welcome change in the atmosphere that had been hanging around the ship lately. Not to mention how much she'd missed having him around. She charged towards him and there was a sharp intake of breath from both of them, when he caught her in his arms, the all too familiar scent of her in his nostrils, and him in hers. She backed up quickly, not wanting to cross signals with him, no matter how much she still wanted him. They weren't meant to be just friends, but Cerberus had ripped whatever this relationship was from them, even while they'd both wanted to rebuild it. 

At the thought of Cerberus, something inside Kaidan snapped. A large surge of power crackled through the air towards her, catching her unaware and shoving her backwards, back hitting the wall with a resounding smack. It didn't hurt too much, but she was a little winded.

“We should stop…” His voice died in his throat when he saw the pain contorting her face.

His voice sounded far away as Alyss focused on something else...the feeling washing over her entire body, reeling from the blow he’d just dealt her. She’d never felt like this before when he used his biotics on her...she wouldn't lie it was generally arousal, but this time her insides were on fire...and not in a good way. Her skin was crawling; it felt like she was going to explode from the inside out, the clash of his biotics with hers had a new feeling to it. It seemed like it had caught Kaidan by surprise as well, because he had stopped dead just staring at his hands, horrified, like they had some kind of disease.

The weird feeling disappeared as Kaidan reeled his powers back under the tight leash he usually had them under, her gaze raking across his face.

“You're right. Maybe we should stop.” Alyss muttered, stepping closer to him, her barrier dissipating almost instantly.

“I knew it! I hurt you didn't I, Shepard?” He ignored her cringe when he called her Shepard, the wall he'd tried to build around his heart, crumbling slightly.

That last power had felt odd...unfamiliar. Alyss shook her head fervently—realizing how lucky she was to have had her barrier up...that was a _reave;_ a power no human biotic had ever been able to use before, not even her. A power she’d only ever seen asari master and control. She was back at his side in an instant, scant centimeters from him—so close he could see the beads of sweat dappling her skin, a sight he realized with a start he hadn't seen since before she died, as she lay naked in his arms. A tingle ran through his body before she reached up and brushed her thumb gently under his nose; he saw red when she pulled her hand away. It had been years since he’d gotten a nosebleed...not since BAaT, the surprise helping to quell the emotions he was feeling about being near her again.

She produced a tissue seemingly out of nowhere, holding it up to his nose, collecting the blood he felt draining from it this time. How had he not even known? A little voice was telling him to hold her in his arms, keep her close and safe, but they weren't in that place anymore. The look of pain that had been etched on her face was going to haunt him forever...he'd caused that and the realization made him pull away from her. She stopped him with her free hand as she leaned forward and kissed his cheek, the action making him freeze and his heart stir yet again at her touch; two and a half years and she still affected him like that.

“I'm so proud of you, Kaidan. First, the second human Spectre, now a _reave?_ You are amazing, and I'm so happy to know you.”

He knew he had a goofy smile on his face; her candor meant the world to him. A reave. Even if they couldn't be how they were before everything had gone belly up and wrong, at least they were starting to move forward, past Horizon, and past Mars. His hand came up and covered hers, where she still held the tissue, using gentle force to tilt his head back, as they sat down on the floor, not saying a word, their movements in perfect sync. She’d missed him—she was only human, afterall, even if she _was_ Commander Shepard. The smile playing about her red lips was drawing him back in...for the moment he let it. They'd talk about Horizon later. The guilt he felt about what he had said then and on Mars was weighing on him heavily. Kaidan didn't want to bring it up, wanted to just bask in this moment, the way she was looking at him, unaware she'd already forgiven him a thousand times over.

She’d been dead for two years, three months and seventeen days, and spent most of that time on an operating table. Kaidan hadn’t know that…he’d watched her die, and then suddenly she’d shown up again out of nowhere, alive and well and to him it had probably seemed like she’d deliberately not contacted him to let him know she was okay. And to top it all off, she was backed by Cerberus: a terrorist organization. The same group that had been experimenting with Rachni, Thorian creepers, and husks—letting their employees be killed as long as no one found out about the experiments. They’d experimented on Akuze soldiers by injecting them with thresher maw acid—only Corporal Toombs had survived, and they’d planted a distress beacon right next to the nest of another thresher maw, luring Kohaku’s men into a death trap, and then when Kohaku got too close to the truth they'd killed him.To Cerberus everyone was expendable, even Alyss herself…and to Kaidan it had probably seemed like she’d stopped trying to do good, and so the fact that Kaidan didn’t trust _them_ was completely understandable—what was not, however, was that he didn’t trust _her._

His hand covered hers absently.

“That means the world to me, you have no idea. Though I'm sorry I lost control and hurt you. I could have killed you, and here you are worrying about me.”

Her laugh echoed around the room. “Yeah, maybe you should have held back a little.”


End file.
